The New LDS Church Policy on Same-Sex Families

News broke last week that the LDS Church was adopting new policies aimed at married same-sex couples and their children. Mormons in a same-sex marriage will now be considered apostates and could be subject to disciplinary hearings and excommunication. Their children, meanwhile, will be barred from many of the faith’s sacred rituals, unless they get permission from church’s highest leaders. Monday, a panel of guests will join us to discuss the impacts and ramifications of these new church policies.

Jennifer Dobner is a journalist at the Salt Lake Tribune where she covers health care reform, Mormonism, polygamy, justice issues and more.

John Dehlin has a P-h-D. in psychology from Utah State University, focusing on religion, mental health, and the L-G-B-T Mormon experience. he co-led the largest study ever conducted on L-G-B-T Mormons that has been published in numerous scientific, peer reviewed journals, including the A-P-A's own Journal of Counseling Psychology. He also produces and hosts the Mormon Stories podcast. He was excommunicated from the LDS Church in January of 2015. He was credited in several news reports for leaking information about the Church’s new policy on married same-sex Mormons and their children.

Kendall Wilcox is an openly gay and active Mormon. He’s a co-founder of Mormons Building Bridges, a group that works to build understanding between members of the LDS Church and the LGBT community. He’s currently producing a documentary film about the experience of LGBT Mormons. It’s called Far Between.

Mitch Mayne is an openly gay, active Mormon who served as executive secretary in the LDS bishopric in San Francisco through 2013.

We invited The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to join us for today’s conversation and also extended an invitation for them to join us for a full hour later in the week. They have declined, and directed us to this video with Elder D. Todd Christofferson they say provides context for the Church’s handbook changes.

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The LDS Church recently made headlines with new guidance for lay leaders in dealing with same-sex couples and their children. Critics call it a step backwards in the Church’s efforts to show compassion to the LGBT community. Defenders say it’s simply a reflection of Church doctrine. The LDS Church has declined to join us. So Thursday, historian and Mormon scholar Russell Stevenson takes us through the doctrine that under-girds the Church’s religious policies towards its LGBT members.